Mugilogobius hitam, a new species of freshwater goby

A new species of Mugilogobius is described from Lake Towuti, central Sulawesi, diagnosed by its possession of a distinct transverse sensory papilla pattern on the cheek, overall blackish colour on head, body and fins and relatively large adult size for the genus. Although it may superficially resemble the black goby Mugilogobius amadi from Lake Poso, M. hitam, new species, lacks the numerous predorsal scales (22–36 in M. amadi versus 17–19), high second dorsal fin ray count (I,9, usually I,10, versus I,7–8) and narrow head and protruding chin of M. amadi. Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) data provide clear support for the species status of M. hitam, new species, indicate that all the Malili Lakes Mugilogobius may well represent a species flock and place M. sarasinorum from Lake Poso as its most likely sister taxon. In addition to the tectonic lake species, we report the occurrence of M. latifrons in streams of the Malili Lakes drainage.